Sign Up for Swamplot Emails:

New Midtown Quilt Sculpture Unbolted, Dismantled, Laid Out on San Jacinto Sidewalk

Somebody carefully disassembled the recently installedquilting sculpture in front of the Bermac Arts Building at 4101 San Jacinto St. just south of Cleburne St. late last week, leaving behind a patchwork of colorful powder-coated-steel pieces on the former bus-stop platform next to the sidewalk. The 8-ft.-tall blue, orange, magenta, yellow, and metallic silver sculpture, called Quilt Peace, was erected at the site on September 20th. It was meant to remain there for 3 months — through next month’s International Quilt Festival at the George R. Brown Convention Center — before being moved to a different Midtown site.

***

A press release from the Community Artists’ Collective, which is located inside the building, blames the disassembly on “a vandal who either doesn’t like quilts or peace or public art,” noting that whoever did it “went to a lot of trouble with some heavy duty tools.” The artwork’s 5 component pieces were undamaged and have since been moved inside the building; its creator, Collective executive director Michelle Barnes, is reportedly conferring with fabricators on a reinstallation method that would guard against future unbolting efforts.

Maybe the same things responsible for crop circles are responsible for “sculpture circles” – taken down without much evidence. Though, hobos in the area would have plenty of time on their hands to do this if they could get the tools needed.